title: Spatial instabilities untie the exclusion-principle constraint on species coexistence.
abstract: Using a spatially explicit mathematical model for water-limited vegetation we show that spatial instabilities of uniform states can lead to species coexistence under conditions where uniformly distributed species competitively exclude one another. Coexistence is made possible when water-rich patches formed by a pattern forming species provide habitats for a highly dispersive species that is a better competitor in uniform settings.
authors.affiliation: The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boker Campus 84990, Israel. nathanj@post.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nathan
authors.forename: Jost
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: von Hardenberg
authors.forename: Ehud
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meron
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D008954:Models, Biological; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants
keywords: Competitive exclusion; Mathematical modeling; Species coexistence; Species competition; Vegetation patterns